Below The Surface
by Silentreader034
Summary: At a water performance, Shizuo meets a red haired mermaid. To his surprise, he finds that she's not what he expected of a sheltered princess. A different retelling of the Little Mermaid because unlike the traditional tale, this mermaid was no princess. She was a trained monster. Note: I'm no longer updating Disarray of Fairytales because I've decided to start over the two stories.
1. Chapter 1

"Shizuo, I hear there's a circus in town." Tom brought up during their break.

The blond dressed as a bartender lifted an eyebrow. "So? What's that got to do with the job?"

"Our client wants us to meet him at this circus performance. Says he'll get the money by the end of the show." Tom explained "Besides we get to see the show for free. I've heard it's something a man should see at least once in his lifetime."

"Is it really that great?" Shizuo asked not in the least interested taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Apparently she's an amazing performer. Not sure if all of it is real though. It's an exclusive performance that seems to always be sold out quite quickly." Tom recalled from a flier.

"When is this performance?"

Tom smiled sheepishly. "…Today"

"Let's get this over with." Shizuo grumbled not liking the short notice. "You owe me lunch."

The performance was being held at the aquarium using the tank where the dolphins made their performances.

"Of course." Tom chuckled.

It was a ten minute walk that didn't last very long. When they made it to the dolphin tank they were welcomed by the three dolphins swimming within the tank. They made squeaking sounds but they were much more urgent than usual.

Tom frowned "Strange, aren't dolphins a bit more playful?"

The dolphins seemed to be swimming in one specific spot as if they wanted Tom and Shizuo to take notice of. Shizuo turned his gaze realizing there was something shaking on the ground wet and scaly.

Shizuo took a few steps forward to get a better view at what was there.

"Shizuo where are you going?"

"There's something over here." Shizuo answered.

At a closer look it wasn't an 'it' he was looking it.

It was a 'she.'

What first made him make a double take was her dark red hair splayed around her pale form. She was wearing what looked like a corset for a water stage decorated in glass beads and graceful metallic patterns all over the piece. Her eyes were closed as if she was writhing in pain at the lack of water. What made her different from different women was the fact she had a scaly, metallic blue tail rather than a pair of two legs.

She was clutching her neck so desperately as if she was having a hard time breathing. Her ragged breathing was loud like she was dying.

Rather than looking like a mystical creature of the deep.

… How could he describe it...

It was like watching a flopping fish out of water. She didn't belong on dry land.

"She looks like she's in pain." Tom noticed. "Maybe she needs an ambulance."

_ Instead of an ambulance,_ he thought, _she looks like she needs water even more._

Shizuo stepped closer to the young woman looming over her slender form. He reached a hand towards her around her middle and hoisted her over his shoulder.

Without warning, Shizuo had easily repositioned her in his arms to throw back causing Tom to yell.

"Shizuo WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

But it was already too late, he already lifted had the so called mermaid into his arms ready to fling back into the dolphin tank.

He took a step back and threw her small body over his shoulder. To the naked eye all a person could see was a flash of red hair and green scales being thrown up high and then falling into the tank with a loud *_SPLASH* _

"Shizuo, do you know what you just did?"

"I put her back in the water." Shizuo answered not seeing anything wrong with his actions.

"You threw her back in like a fisherman would." Tom shook his head at Shizuo's lack of delicacy. "What are the workers gonna say if they saw how you treated her."

"She looked like she needed water." Shizuo protested. "Because she's a mermaid right?"

"That's still not how you treat a person even if she is a mermaid." Tom sighed.

But there was a tinkle of laughter coming from the tank.

Shizuo looked up just to make sure it wasn't the dolphins laughing, but instead he was sprayed with water by the dolphin trio.

"You little shits, does she mean that much to you?" Shizuo grumbled pulling the blue sunglasses off his nose. He used the hem of his button to wipe the water off the lens. He ignored the dolphins following Tom to gods knows where, but there was something oddly strange about this 'mermaid.'

When he had picked her up, he noticed a small detail that bothered him.

Underneath all those scales, he could distinctly feel that behind the tail...

She had two legs.

* * *

Sometimes dolphins were way too playful for their own good. She thought to herself.

How could she have fallen out of the tank so easily?

It was a mystery to even her.

She sighed wondering how she was going to get back in the tank with the other dolphins. With how heavy this tail was it was difficult to maneuver around with.

She had heard voices, both seemingly male.

One was rough and the other more calm and collected.

She could feel warm arms around her making her feel strangely warm inside.

However, she never expected a blond bartender would be able to throw her singlehandedly into the tall tank. She only had her eyes open for a split second when she found her self airborne about ten meters above the tank before making a gigantic splash into the tank. The relief to her lungs was fast acting that allowed her to make logical decisions.

"Miss, Boss wants to see you." One of the workers said.

The red head nodded and swam towards the surface near the ground the boss was standing at. But there was something different about this man. He didn't look like her usual boss, he looked more like Mafia or Yakuza than a circus ring master.

He wore a white suit with a black button up and he seemed calm and collected. He bent down to her level and extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you ningyu-san. My name is Shiki."

She observed his body language deciding whether this man and his two bodyguards would be a threat to her.

They were obviously dangerous in a sense, but they weren't _all_ bad.

She revealed an innocent smile to the men that should have been considered heartbreaking if it weren't the fact they were gangsters.

She accepted Shiki's handshake with her own. Compared to her cooler temperature Shiki had a much warmer presence.

"I just came here to warn you, you see there seems to be people following you. You father wanted me to give you this." Shiki explained handing her a box. She in return frowned not sure what he meant by following her.

There really wasn't anything special about her. She had other sisters who were much more note worthy than her.

"We're not too sure either." Shiki answered. "But in case something happens, he says to use it."

She nodded slowly not sure what her father .

Shiki smiled "Well good luck with the show."

She waved goodbye sinking back into the water awaiting her time before the big show.

After the show she hoped she could thank the man in person. But would he ignore her? Would it bother him?

All these negative thoughts kept swirling in her mind.

"Eek, Eeek" The dolphins tried to communicate in a rushed and urgent tone.

She frowned, most people wouldn't be able to understand what they were saying but to her it was crystal clear.

They were screaming _DANGER._

She had a cold feeling that someone was behind her, but when she turned around there was no one there except her and the dolphins.

"Little sis! Are you ready?" One of her elder sisters yelled from the bleachers.

She turned her head at the sound of her sister's voice. She gave a thumbs up indicating her response.

But what she had failed to realize that another strange character had shown up watching from afar with that trademark smirk on his face.

The man murmured devilishly toying with his blade. "Well then ningyu-san"

_"Let the show begin."_

* * *

**I keep changing my mind, but I decided to drop Disarray Of Fairytales and start over from scratch. **_  
_

**Review or comment on what you think and I'm almost done the chapter for To Be Used By Her. **

**Oh below this author's note is I guess a little cliffhanger to the next chapter? So keep reading to the end.**

**Thanks for reading:)**

* * *

"Why the sudden interest Orihara?" Shiki asked backstage. "It doesn't seem like you."

Izaya on the other hand was amused at Shiki's question. "Really, I think she's the perfect candidate."

"For what exactly?"

The shady informant smirked watching as Shizu-chan took his seat in the bleachers. "I'm just curious about the rumours of this so called mermaid."

The young man paced around while fingering his blades.

"If my guess is right" Izaya mused "Then it won't be long until I finally break this stalemate."

Shiki watched as the Eskimo chuckled to himself in an almost crazed way as if the excitement was unbearable. Things were becoming dangerous when ideas ran through this young man's mind. But even Shiki could understand what 'stalemate' Orihara was talking about.

"You mean Shizuo Heiwajima."

It wasn't a big secret that the two hated each other's guts and they were set on killing each other.

"If things go well I won't even need to lift a finger." Izaya laughed at the irony.

"I still don't see why you're so interested in her." Shiki couldn't follow this sociopath's thinking but that didn't faze Izaya.

"The answer is simple really," Izaya smiled in that disturbing way as if he knew the end of your demise and pointed to the blond bartender in the crowd.

_"She's the only person alive who can kill that monster." _


	2. Chapter 2

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME TO THIS EXCITING PERFORMANCE." The ring leader announced. "AS YOU MAY ALL BE WAITING FOR I BRING YOU CIRCUE DU LUNNETE!"

The crowd cheered loudly for the performers. One by one a woman walked to the stage

"May I present to you the Mermaid sisters."

However Shizuo couldn't tell you much about it. The performance was indeed entertaining with acrobatics, fire breathing, and knife tricks, but they didn't interest him.

"And now may I present to you our main attraction the one and only… LITTLE MERMAID!"

The crowd's cheering grew louder for the last performer.

The dolphins blew water up from their blow holes as the young mermaid broke the surface of the water peeking up revealing strange irises. However half of her face was covered by a mask so only her eyes and mouth were visible to the crowd.

She smiled brightly waving to the audience and then she raised her arms as mist came from nowhere showering the audience with a white cloud.

Then as the mist faded she sat on the stage splashing the front row with water.

It just so happened that Shizuo and Tom were sitting in that particular row resulting in the pair getting drenched in water. She giggled silently and blew the water out of her hands.

Interesting enough the water didn't fall back into the tank. Instead it expanded like a balloon and that was when Shizuo realized she was blowing large bubbles. The large bubbles were so big a person could probably fit in there.

The dolphins made more clicking noises excitedly that one of them jumped out of the water landing into the bubble.

THe bubbles were filled with water allowing the dolphin to swim freely.

"WOOOOOOO" The crowd cheered.

Then like a conductor the red haired mermaid raised her hands guiding the various bubbles to different parts of the audience so some of the audience members could pet the dolphins when they poked their heads out of the water.

It continued on as the dolphins jumped from one bubble to another bubble of water playfully wowing the audience.

And she even combined some of the water bubble to make it bigger.

For her big finale she combined all the water bubbles with all the dolphins swimming in one giant bubble.

The red haired mermaid seemed to be enjoying herself laughing to herself and then she clapped her hands once causing the bubble to explode as just a cool mist.

It took a few seconds for the mist to clear, but the whole audience was greeted by a huge rainbow arching across the whole stadium.

It amazed even Shizuo. It was the first time he'd seen such a show. It was almost as if she could control water to her will.

The crowd applauded at her performance throwing roses into the water. The mermaid turned her head in Shizuo's direction and she nodded in greeting.

She took a bow before she dived back into the water hiding from view of the audience.

Shizuo was all ready to leave but Tom motioned for him to stay seated.

"The show isn't over yet, Shizuo. We'll collect the money afterwards."

In response, Shizuo lifted an eyebrow for a further explanation.

Then, Shizuo finally noticed the strange happenings that were happening.

The audience had quickly left the theatre, but there were strange humming sounds coming from the water as if there was something _hungry_ lurking in the waters.

Shizuo was getting a bad feeling from this occurrence. Something strange was about to happen.

"You must be Tom Tanaka." A new voice introduced "I am Naoki, the ring master." The top hat was taken off his head revealing longish dark blue hair and a young face of someone who looked to be Shizuo's and Tom's age.

He had the face of a host with double eye lids and a flirty smile. He seemed the type to keep a smiling poker face no matter the situation.

"We're here to collect your debt of five million yen."

Naoki kept a tight lipped smile as if he found it amusing. "Ah yes that _debt_. Would you mind waiting one more day?"

Tom didn't like the sound of that. The only reason people asked for an extension was when they were planning on escaping. "No can do. I'm not in the mood to chase after a whole circus."

"Oh is that so…" Naoki mused with a shadow of a smirk. "Then shall I give you collateral for now until the deadline? I have the perfect person for the job."

Tom lifted an eyebrow wary of this exchange.

The man named Naoki smiled slyly. "Will my daughter suffice for you?"

"You're giving your daughter as _collateral_?

"Isn't that just a little irresponsible?"

The man shrugged. "It's nothing new. Besides she needs to know the real struggles of living just like her mother did."

Shizuo was no longer listening to the conversation. He had already grabbed the closest object which happened to be a crate ready to destroy this poor definition of a man. "You son of a- AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A FATHER!?"

Naoki smirked "Then why don't you show her then. _What it means to be human. Not even you could win against my daughters."_

Shizuo was already pissed and that just added to the fire. "_What did you just say?" _

Naoki snapped his fingers."My daughters show our guest what I mean."

"""""""_Hai, otou-san"""""""_

They said in unison.

Six girls were in the water swimming like glistening jewels with metallic scales and glass hair ornaments that made them look otherworldly except there was one girl Shizuo didn't see.

Each of these so called mermaids had different hair colours brown, black, blond, platinum, silver, ginger but there was no girl with ruby red hair. Where could she have gone in an enclosed tank?

He was getting a strange vibe from these so called mermaids. They looked hungry almost starved with their lips pulling back into toothy smiles.

One of them gestured for Shizuo lend them an ear and come closer. Stupidly enough he did.

Before Shizuo could react he felt two pairs of hands wrap around his legs tipping him off balance. He fell on his back with a loud THUD and that wasn't the end of it. As fast as light he was being dragged into the water with the last thing he saw being one of those "mermaid's" faces grinning as if they had just found their meal ticket.

As he hit the cold salt water he noticed the platinum haired mermaid going for his leg.

As if he'd let that happen. Even if they were still technically women, he would never go easy in a fight.

With all his strength he punched one in the stomach causing her to go flying backwards but that was all it did. He struggled and punched and kicked for as long as possible.

But sometimes he forgot-

that he was only human.

He could only last so long underwater.

These mermaids were dragging him underwater until he could no longer fight back. His vision starting fading until he heard the sound of a tinkling bell coming from somewhere around him. The arms that pinned him down were strong maybe even stronger than he was, not to mention cold and scaly just like a fish.

There was the sound of something cracking as the water got colder and colder under his fingertips.

He didn't expect to be easily defeated by the six of these frauds for mermaids. They were definitely not what he was expecting.

The bell sound was getting closer the more he lost conscious. But all of a sudden there was a swift change in water current that caused the other mermaids to back off letting go of his arms and legs. They shrieked and cursed in a language he didn't understand.

Their laughter became shrieks of terror as the water became colder almost as if the water was freezing itself.

They clutched their own throats as if the water was choking them.

Shizuo couldn't move even if he wanted to. Was he going to die like this? Like hell he'd be satisfied with that.

He clenched his fist mustering all his strength to swim to the surface.

That was when he felt a cold arms wrap around him dragging him away upwards to the surface. He opened his eyes long enough to notice the scarlet hair that swirled around the young woman seemed even redder in the water. Her pale skin and blue eyes seem to illuminate in the waters.

She was strong and swimming quite quickly even though she was dragging a seventy kilogram man up to the surface.

When his face emerged from the waters he gasped for air coughing up the seawater that he had almost swallowed.

"SHIZUO! Are you alright?" Tom asked reaching a hand to help the man out of the water.

"Uugh" Shizuo groan "Yeah I'm fine."

Shizuo was lifted out of the tank all drenched and freezing from the waters. His vision was obscured by his drenched blond bangs pasted to his forehead however.

Shizuo took a glance behind him to get a better look at the redhead, but she had already swam back into the water swimming away from the edge of the pool. The mask she had adorned during her performance was still visible on her face obscuring her eyes from his view.

But he was almost definitely sure, that her eyes were an ocean blue rimmed in gold.

There was no way to tell what she was thinking while she was watching him, Tom and her father conversing like this.

But there was something off about her. Unlike her sisters she was swimming alone. The other 'mermaids' were huddled together away from the redhead. She looked lonely on her own just like the fairytale. Her sisters looked more like predators rather than entertainers.

Because she was different from them.

She managed a small smile and a wave in his direction before turning her eyes away. She focused on the dolphins instead choosing to keep them company underwater.

"It's rare of her to save a human." Naoki murmured in interest. "She's a little shy towards strangers."

Shizuo grunted not really sure what to think. "She's more human than her sisters."

He was soaking wet and freezing disliking the condition he was in. He felt bad for ruining another suit his younger brother had given him.

Naoki smiled. "Really? I beg to differ. Although I must say she has an unnatural interest in human culture for a mermaid."

"I don't care. I'm getting out of here." Shizuo growled not liking the father's attitude.

Naoki smiled knowingly. "Well as long as we're here, please take care of my daughter during our stay. She's what you call a _fish out of water?_"

Shizuo didn't know what to make of that sentence. "Sure." He uttered before heading out of the makeshift theatre. It was only a one day thing. It wasn't like he would ever meet her again.

Boy was he wrong about that statement.

* * *

"I see you've taken an interest in him." Her father noted while in her dressing room afterwards.

The red haired mermaid blinked and shrugged unsure herself. She had somehow managed to get out of the pool and make it to her room to get changed.

"You didn't let your sisters eat him." Father commented.

She paused staring at him straight with an unwavering gaze in the mirror.

_"Can't." _She murmured quietly.

Naoki blinked surprised. "Can't? What do you mean?"

But she didn't elaborate. She merely dried her hair with the towel in her dressing room. She unclipped the tail attached to her legs slipping out of it gracefully revealing two slim pale scaleless legs. Instead she pulled on a baby blue summer dress adorned with small metallic scale patterns on the edges of the dress.

She wasn't much of a talker especially with what happened when she spoke to human males. She had to be careful with how much she spoke. Speaking was a skill she didn't like to use in fear she'd let something slip.

Never would she make that mistake and fall for a human man just like her own parents. Look how it ended up for them.

She merely shook her head.

Pulling the mask from her eyes, it revealed a soft young face of a girl who looked to be in her late teens. Her blue-green eyes lit up in gentle naivety.

"Are you going out?"

She nodded pulling the hood over her head to cover her face and hair.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

She tilted her head confused. What did he mean by that?

"You have another job. Your sisters are hungry." Naoki commented. "They want _fresh meat_ and you must provide for them."

She shook her head.

"That wasn't a request my dear. _That was an order." _

Her body shivered in fear. There was something definitely wrong with her father.

He pulled out a knife from his pocket pointing it at her with no mercy what so ever. And that's when she saw it.

That flash of red in his eyes.

Instinctively she backed away from him blindly feeling for the knob of the door.

She'd only heard stories of this ghost.

The _Song of Sin, _Saika.

Said to love all humanity with one touch of a blade. She opened the door and she gasped covering her mouth at the sight before her.

More red eyes began to appear in the form of the crew members, even her own father was under its spell. She inched towards the water as they attempted to corner her. Their senile grins disturbed her to no end somehow each of them held a knife in their hand.

"_Impure. Must purge the impure."_

_"You must love all of humanity, just like us."_

_"Just like us."_

_"Just like us." _

_JUST like us."_

_"JUST LIKE US"_

They kept on chanting the same phrase over and over and she realized why Shiki had brought that box to her.

_Someone knew this would happen._

But who? She didn't have a clue.

However, she almost failed to realize there was one gaze in the darkness that glowed red, but not in the same way as the others. His eyes were perfectly sane almost as if he was enjoying the show. She could almost hear the man's cynical laugh in the shadows.

All she knew that she needed to get out of here and fast.

There was no way she could out run thirty men in their twenties on foot. She may have looked human, but she was still a creature of the sea.

She crouched down to the ground and murmured words that were inaudible to the human ear.

Saika wasn't sure what the red haired woman was doing, but she didn't like it. It was inhuman. It was abnormal. It was disgusting.

She was an innocent person who didn't know the dangers of the world.

In a flash of white smoke, a mist began clouding the whole stage diminishing her attackers' vision.

_Where is she?_

_Where did she go? _

They all cried in empty voices.

While they were still distracted, she grabbed her cloak and bag and she ran. Even though she was rusty on her feet-

She ran into the jungle of Ikebukuro.

Through twists and turns, she tried her hardest to escape her pursuers, but it was 2 AM in the morning so there weren't many people around. Her feet didn't know where she wast taking her, but they were tiring very easily with how many times she kept on falling.

It had been two hundred years since the last time she took one foot on land.

She wasn't used to the feel of glass and rocks in between her toes and she wasn't liking it.

"_You can't hide from us forever." _They all said.

She gasped as her body gasped in the unfamiliar taste of air. It was strange and scary the longer she tried to gasp for oxygen the more tired she felt.

Somehow she could hear them chanting.

"_Join us."_

_"Love all humanity."_

_"Must love all humans."_

"_Join us."_

_"Love all humanity."_

_"Must love all humans."_

"_Join us."_

_"Love all humanity."_

_"Must love all humans." _

They kept repeating the same thing over and over again in unison. She was scared out of her wits. She always knew the outside world was scary but this was beyond her. The world was dark and yet full of light. It was scary and she knew. Before she realized it, she realized this had all been a set up.

"_Do you wish to be human?" _

Her head whipped back to pinpoint the source of the new voice. She unfurled her fan aiming at her pursuer's neck. On the outside it looked like a fan, but the edges were sharpened just like a blade.

The mystery person pulled out his own knife aiming at her neck.

It was… a human man. Taller than her, but there wasn't anything terrifying that really alerted her. However, he was unstable in terms of sanity. He was dressed in a way she didn't recognize. A brown fur trimmed jacket that made him look more like an Eskimo more than anything. But who was she to judge? She barely understood how humans could even stand wearing _pants. _

"_My my no need to get so defensive. I'm only here to help you." _

Liar. Liar. Liar.

Her head kept repeating in her head. He definitely had ulterior motives coming to her like this with thirty men under the influence of a lonely sword. THey had somehow cornered her in a park where she had no clue where she was at the moment.

She looked helplessly at him asking without words. _What do you want from me? _

The man smiled devilishly tilting her head to him with a crook of his finger.

"_I'm here to make a deal with you." _

His ominous words echoed loudly in her at her pursuers red cold eyes behind the man she knew. She knew this was all _his _doing. Having that sword cut the all the crew members, even her own father having her surrounded where she couldn't refuse. She didn't know how he did it, but she knew one thing,

She was trapped.

Trapped in the very heart of Ikebukuro.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Don't own Durarara. Only own my OCs. **

**Review and comment on what you think. **

**And thanks for reading:)**


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